Rapper CeeLo Green has joked that he did not attend the Grammy Awards in his first public comment since his famous golden appearance at the event.

Photos of the American artist went viral after he arrived on the red carpet as his alter ego Gnarly Davidson, dressed and painted head-to-toe in gold.

But in a video posted by TMZ, Green told an interviewer that neither he, nor Davidson, attended Sunday's star-studded ceremony.

As he stepped into his car on Tuesday, he was filmed saying, "That was someone else altogether.

"I've been hearing about the guy. I saw a lot of the trouble he has been making out here."

Asked about the gleaming costume, he said: "I don't know, I wasn't there.

"Keep it up Gnarly, I'm a fan - he doesn't like me as much, though."

He added that he would buy a Gnarly Davidson album if it came out, but added: "I don't like to waste money so it better be good."

But Green's denial is undermined by his social media accounts where he has shared pictures and videos of the mysterious golden figure, which has been compared to everything from the Tin Man to a Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

He has also used his Twitter account to promote @GnarlyDOfficial, an unverified page which was created in October and has since generated more than 1,000 followers.

It is not the first time that Green, 42, has made headlines with his bizarre costumes.

He famously emerged from a wall of flowers, camouflaged in a suit of matching pink, yellow and white blooms, to perform on the X Factor stage in 2015.

The Guardian described him at the time as a "giant one-man Chelsea Flower Show".